MHI Blog -- Manufacturing and supply chain professionals gathered in record numbers in Chicago at the recent ProMat 2017, the largest material handling and logistics trade expo in North and South America. With registrations of 44,872 attendees, show producer MHI announces a 20 percent attendance jump over 2015. Keynote and educational session presentations can now be viewed online.

Mashable -- If Amazon has its way, the skies could soon be buzzing with drones, carrying our online purchases directly to our doors. But today's drones can only travel so far — so what happens when you live out of range of a distribution hub? On Wednesday, IBM Research announced a patent that might someday allow delivery drones to pass off packages to one another mid-flight to create a relay system, extending a supply chain's reach even farther. 

EBN -- Manufacturing operations strive to increase demand fulfillment and to reduce costs. But, too often these objectives seem mutually exclusive in practice. In fact, a 10-year study by Accenture of nearly 250 businesses across industries and sectors found that only 11% were meeting both goals.

Forbes -- Blockchain technology may be shaking up a supply chain near you. It's smarter, it's faster, and it gets more participants on board.

MHI Blog-- Grocery delivery has been well-known and widely utilized service in Europe for a while. For example, major British grocery stores like Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, and Tesco all offer delivery of fresh groceries that you order directly through their website and are delivered to your door that same day for a delivery fee. Now there is a rise of US based companies that are starting to offer buy online, pick up in store as an option, but the US market is still fairly untapped for grocery delivery.

Bloomberg-- Amazon.com Inc.’s unbroken 20-year streak of double-digit revenue growth shows no sign of slowing this year, helped by an influx of online shoppers who are abandoning stores and new business for its cloud-computing division.

Material Handling & Logistics -- With the rise of e-commerce and consumer expectations transportation must be treated as a strategic element of the business plan and the end-to-end supply chain in order for companies to remain competitive in a digital economy.

Maritime Executive -- Import volumes at major container ports in the U.S. are projected to rise 4.7 percent in the first half of 2017 compared with the same period a year ago, and many ports are reporting growth.

Supply Chain Digital -- We have long anticipated the introduction of robotics into the supply chain. We have predicted the potential of such technology to help businesses keep pace with distribution challenges and consumer demand for convenience and variety. However, while robotics technology has now arrived in many sectors of life, it is yet to truly revolutionize the logistics environment. 

Reuters -- A union representing 1,200 U.S. air maintenance workers at United Parcel Service Inc turned up pressure on the company on Sunday to settle a three-year contract dispute, saying it would seek clearance to strike.

Air Cargo World -- Airfreight rates ticked back up again in March, up US$0.21 per kilogram, or 6.7 percent over March 2016, as the industry moved out of a seasonal decline in rates that generally follows the holiday surge.

MHI Blog -- Truffles go bad pretty quickly, so they need to be packed in a specific way and shipped quickly so that truffle-lovers can put them in their foods. They need to be kept dry to prevent rotting from moisture. The traditional way to store truffles is in an airtight box of rice or sand. This means they need to be handled carefully in transit so that the airtight seal isn’t broken and the truffles inside aren’t bruised or damaged. This is where material handling comes in handy.

Los Angeles Times -- China on Wednesday launched its first aircraft carrier built entirely on its own, in a demonstration of the growing technical sophistication of its defense industries and determination to safeguard its maritime territorial claims and crucial trade routes.

Industry Week -- Purchasing managers and companies guided by lowest delivered costs, rather than life-cycle costs, can kill their companies. A purchasing culture that does not live by the principles of lean, and depends on long, thin supply chains, can kill a business.